Sewing machine attachment



Aug.v 18, 1936. Y A AHNGER 2,051,237

SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Filed May 4, 1935 -IIIIIHH' IN VEN TOR.

` ORNEY Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNI TED STATES PATENTV OFFICE SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Yrjo A. Ahnger, Crockett, Calif. Application May 4, 1935, Serial No. 19,812

4 Claims.

The present nvention relates generally to a darning and mending attachment for sewing ma.- chines and more particularly to a ldetachable device which can be used to render the straight line work feeding means of a standard sewing machine inoperative in a simple and convenient manner and without necessitating any change in the mechanical construction thereof.

The main object :of the present nvention is to provide a simple and .eflective means for rendering 'the standard work feeding mechanism of a sewing machine inoperative and thereby Vpermit stitching in |a reverse and irregular direction upon a straight line sewing machine without disc'onnecting the normally Operating feed mechanism of the machine.

Another object of the nvention is to provide a simple and effective stop for the presser foot controlling lever of a sewing'machine which will' retain said lever in a predetermined elevated position when applied thereto.

Another object of the nvention is to provide a simple and Veffective m-eans which may be applied to fthe presser foot supporting bar and retain said Abar in a predetermined elevated position ,independently of the elevating lever associated therewith. i

In the standard forms of straight line sewing machines there is provided .on ithe 'bed of the machine 'a series-of reciprocating 'tooth carrying members which- 'function to advance Vthe work beneath the needle. This feeding mechanism operates in conjunction with a presser foot that serves to hold the work in 'cooperating relation up'on the reciprocating teeth of 'the work advancing me'chanism and thus causes 'the work to advance benea'th the needle. straight l'i-ne Imovement vof lthe work advancing mecham'sm, it is difiicult to vary the line of s'tit'ching from a straight line and therefore it is practically impossible to stitch lin an irregular direction 'and/'or back and forth in a continuous manner, as is requiredin vdarning and mending, without rendering 'the aforesaid work feed mechanism inoperative. The disconnection .of the work advancing mechanism from the machine and/or a covering thereof so as to render it inoperative has been suggested for the .pur-pose of permitting a 'stitching such as Vis customary in darning and mendi-ng. -I-Iowever, the rendering of the work feeding mechanism inoperative in this manner is inconvenient and requires the services of a ski-lled operator. Therefore it i'is Va further objecft of the 'present nvention to provide a simple Because of. the' expedient for rendering a standard straight line sewing machine adaptable to mending.

In laccordance with the present nvention the above is accornplished by means which can be easily V and read-ily applied to' the presser foot controlling mechanism of the sewing machine to retain the presser foot out of cooperating relation with the work feeding mechanism and at the same time permit a successful operation of the sewing Vmachine.

For a better understanding of the nvention reference should be had to the accompanying ldrawing wherein there is shown, by way of illustration and not of limitation, preferred embodi- Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing an embodiment of the -present nvention 'applied to the presser foot controlling lever of. a "White" sewing machine,

Figure '4 is a perspective view 'of a preferred embodiment 'of the present nvention,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an accessory which, for 'convenienc may be used in conjunction with the present nvention,

Figures '6, 7, V8, 9, 10 and 11 are perspectivei views showing modified forms -of the present invention, and

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view showing the device illustrated in Figure 11 las applied to the presser foot supporting bar of a machine of the type illustrated in Figure 1.

For the purpose of illustrating an application of a preferred 'embodiment of the present `nvention to standard sewing machines there is illustrated, i'n Figure 1 of the drawing, the Operating head of a Singen' 'sewing machine and in Figure 3, the Operating head 'of a White sewing machine.

In connection with machines of the above types, there is at the'present time provided a mending attachment which can be 'secured by a screw to the needle bar. This attachment is expensive and it requires the complete 'removal of the presser foot and is for this latter reason` highly objectionable in the hands of the ordinary house- Wife.

It is well known that a 4sewing machine may be rendered capable of Vdarning and mending by relieving the spring upon the presser foot bar as x by unscrewing thenut which regulates the-tension of the spring. With Vthis adjustment darn- V c1oth so that it will be'possiblerwithi the ;left' VingV and mending can be' done upon a machine,V but b when'it is desiredbto readjust the-machine for Vregular sewing, it Vis difiicultrto' reset'the spring at the proper pointxof adjustment for normal Vsewing.r`VV V- Still another way of attaining the same end in sewing Vmachines of the types illustrated is to Vmanually support the presser foot' controlling le- Vver in an elevated position Withl the right hand:

while the mending is being done. pIn this manner theppresser foot can be held Vslightly'above the i hand to shift the work below theneedlein anirregular lmanner as is desired in'themending operation. V'I'he object'ion'to this Vmode ofioperation, howeveri, is that the operator' then will have i only her left hand freeV to Vrnanripulate the work VVunderrthe needle." a w 7 With the expedience disclosed by-the present invention', it is possible to raise and adjust Athe Vpresser foot at an operativeelevation for darningV and mending without dismantling the sewing mai Vchine and/ or requiring the use of one handV of i I the operatorto'maintainthe presser foot in such i a position; a b

jIn Figures 1 and 2 of the'drawing,-the numeral VVI O1 designbates the operatingheadof a sewing machine. having a needlebar II Which'reciprocates in a verticaldirection thereinf The head IO of the machine also carries a presser foot supporting bar `I2 whichris vertically adjustable to support a presser footV I3 in spaced relation With-a bed plate Hoover which theoperatingv head IO isdisposed. 'In' this arrangement the head is shown as having a cover' plate I5v upon the frontface there- Aof and projecting 'out of its rear side there is a fpresserr footcontrolling-lever I6.`

i As shown in Eigure 2 ofthe 'drawing, the presser foot supporting bar I2 is adjustable in a Vertical direction upon the Operating head IO in adirection parallel withV the` needle bar I I. This presser foot VVsupporting barV IZ is normally biased down- Wardly by means of a spring I'I, which is disposed between ,alcam' engaging abiitment VI O' upon the presser foot barV I2 and a tension controlling nut I9 whichprojects from'the top of the machine head IO. The cam engaging Vstop IO rides upon a Vcam surface 2O on the presser foot controlling lever IE which, as here/shown, is pivoted upon a screvr 2|, `With this arrangement it will beV readily seen that when'the presser foot' con- -trolling' leverfI '6 is raised, the cam surface 2O will,

through the medium of the cam engaging stop IO, elevate the pr siserfootI3 and compress the spring'l'l.. 3 'i 'Under normal Operating'conditions, the cam eng'aging stop IO is adjusted upon the presser foot supportingfibar I2 Vso that when the leverfIIi is in i its normalandlowermost position it will permitV the presser foot I3 toassume a cooperating relation Vwith a straightV line Work 'feeding means `22 carried by the bed plate of the machine beneath r the'needle bar I I.

i When the machine is adjusted 'in this niannerthework feedingrmeans 22; in co- Voperation with the presser'foot I3 Will cause the work`to advance onlyiin a 4straight line beneath`V the needle upon theneedle barv I I; and as aresult it is impossible to reverse' the direction of s'titching and/or istitch in anV irregular manner `as `is required in mending and/or darning. However; if

the presser foot I3 is elevated slightly'to'a point 'trolling lever I6 when applied thereto.

where it will permit a free movement of the work over the work feeding mechanism 22 and at the same time hold the work clear of the needle where it can be easily shifted, the work can be moved about backward and forward and sidewise; This Vis accomplished with one embodiment of the present invention by providing an attachment which i will serve to hold the presser foot'controlling le- Vver I 6 at an intermediate Vposition above its lower or normal Operating position, and in another embodiment by 'providing an adjustable stop upon the presser foot supporting bar I2 which willhold i i I i the presser foot supporting bar VI2 at any desired elevated position independently of the controlling lever I6.

g VIn Figure/'l of the drawing, there is shown in de-VV i z tail a preferred form of device which isV adapted f to determine the position of the'presser footconi i This devioe,designated generally by the numeral V23V, is illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and`3 of the 'drawing as applied :in Vaniroperative position upon the presserfoot controlling lever of a sewing machine,

In its'simplest form, this device has a substantially flat body portion 24 at the ends of which i thereare inwardly rolledresilient portions 25; that are adapted to engage opposite sides of the.

presser foot controlling'lever IO; When this device 23 is applied to the presser foot :controlling Vlever IO, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, it may be positioned thereupon sor that,A i

regular shifting of the work suchV as is required a in darning and mending.

i When' the device 23 is thus applied to a sewingv machine of the '*Singer" type, 'a very neat'mendingV and darning stitch may be made upon the machine by operating'the needle very fast and mov-` i ing the work thereunder ina relatively slow manneri.V 'This will produce short and neat stitches: which may be made to follow any desireddirection moving the work as desired under the o vneedle. f i

: Now, if it should bedesired to usethe Amaby merely chine for a conventional stitchingoperationeit will onlybe necessary tolslide the device 23 outwardlyalong the presser' foot controlling lever z I6 to assrume arnormal stitching position.V At

this point itwill be observed that thejdevice 23 need'notbe removed from the machine and consequently there Vwi-llv be'no danger of it becomingV misplacedV or lost, as is the case `withfso many` auxiliary attachments such as are provided'with sewing machines.

In Figure 3 of the drawing, theosewing ma-v chine head IO is shown as having Va presser foot controlling lever 26 which projects rearwardly alongrthe Vbackside of the machine head-;This

lever 26 operates in substantially-the same man-p ner as the lever IO of the machine illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing. Therefore, the

device 23 is adapted to operate in a mannerV similar to that Vdescribed above ;and Vretainan o associated presser foot Vsu'pporting bar 2'I in* an elevated position,V as described above.l 'In the sewing machine here illus'trated, vthe presser-foot a supporting bar 2'I does'notproject through thev top of the machine head IO and consequently the attachments to Vbe hereinafter described as i applicable directly to the presser foot supporting bar |2 cannot be used with this machine without removing the cover plate l5.

When the means provided in accordance with this invention are used upon a sewing machine the operator will have two hands free to manipulate the work beneath the needle, and therefore ordinary mending may be carried out without other expedients. However, if particularly fine darning or mending is required, an operator may use a conventional embroidery hoop, one type of which is illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawing. The hoop here illustrated comprises a metallic ring 28 of suitable diameter and having a semicircular cross section about which a metallic spring 29 or rubber band may be disposed. With such an accessory it will be possible to fiatten out the area to be mended and produce a uniform and neat appearing mend.

The devices illustrated in Figures 6, '7 and 8 of the drawing are intended to be applied to the presser foot controlling lever and operate in substantially the same manner as does the device 23 previously described. The device of Figure 6, designated by the numeral 30, difi'ers from the device 23 in that the ends thereof are merely folded up so as to frictionally engage the sides of the presser foot controlling lever |6 or 26. The device of Figure '7 comprises a resilient looped portion 3| having upper and lower lever engaging members 32 and 33 respectively. With this device the lower portion 33 will engage the side of the machine head Ill and thus form a stop which will hold the presser Vfoot controlling lever in an elevated position. The device of Figure 8 comprises a U-shaped clamp| member 34 having a thumbscrew 35 in one side thereof, by means of which it may be secured in position upon a presser foot controlling lever to function as a stop in the manner above described, as will be readily understood.

The devices illustrated in Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12, are particularly adapted to machines of the USinger type, wherein the presser foot supporting bar |2 extends upwardly through the top of the machine head IB. When these devices are used in accordance with the invention, they will be placed over the projecting end of the presser foot supporting bar |2, where they will operate as an adjustable stop to prevent downward movement thereof.

The device of Figure 9 comprises a flat portion 36, having a hole 31 through which the projecting end of the presser foot supporting bar |2 is adapted to pass and at one side of the hole 3`| there is an offset foot portion 38 that will engage a surface upon the machine head and cant the flat portion 36 and cause it to grip the end of the presser foot bar |2 and prevent down- Ward movement thereof. The device of Figure 10 has a yoke-like member 39, which is adapted to be passed over the projecting end of the presser foot supporting bar |2, and at one side of thevyoke 39 there is a pivoted and gravity actuated dog 4|] that is adapted to rotate inv wardly and grip the projecting end of the presser foot supporting bar |2 and thus secure the yoke 39 thereupon as a stop which will prevent down- Ward movement thereof. The device of Figure 11 comprises a yoke-like member 4| having an inclined or wedge-forming surface 42 at one side thereof and cooperating with the wedge surface 42, there is a movable roller element 43 which is adapted to grip the projecting end of the presser foot supporting bar |2 and hold the yoke member 4| as a stop thereupon. The device of this latter design is illustrated in Figure 12 as applied to the projecting end of the presser foot controlling bar |2, and with the yoke portion 4| engaging the spring tension adjusting nut 9.

When devices of the types illustrated in Figures 9 to- 12 of the drawing, are used in accordance with this invention their application to the presser foot supporting bar is accomplished by raising the presser foot supporting bar |2 to the desired elevation by means of the lever |6 and then placing one or the other of the devices over the projecting end of the presser foot supporting bar 2.

As an additional means for accomplishing the purpose of the present invention, there is shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, a second device which comprises a lever engaging member 44 having a socket 45 at its lower end for the reception of the end of the presser foot controlling lever |6 and at its upper end it has a thong 46 that may be tied or otherwise looped around the projecting end of the presser foot supporting bar 2 or any other convenient projecting part upon the machine head. In this arrangement the thong 46 may have a permanently formed loop at its upper end and at its lower end it may be laced through suitable holes in the member 44, so that an adjustment in its length may be made by merely pulling the thong 46 therethrough.

While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose my invention so that the same can be readily understood, described and illustrated specific devices and arrangements, I desire to have it understood that this invention is not limited to the specific means disclosed, but may be embodied in other ways that will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that this invention is new and it is desired to claim it so that all such changes as come within the scope of the appended claims are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described myrinvention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. A stop for the presser foot control lever of a sewing machine, comprising a member having a portion adapted to engage the head of a sewing machine, said member having two oppositely disposed rolled in ends which frictionally engage the sides of the presser foot control lever and adjustably hold said portion upon said lever at i head of the sewing machine where said leverl projects therefrom and other portions frictionally engaging said lever and holding said first portion against displacement upon said lever.

3. An attachment for the presser foot control lever of a sewing machine, comprising a member having a stop forming portion adapted to engage the head of the sewing machine where said lever projects therefrom, and a pair of opposed resilient arms upon said member adapted to frictionally engage said lever and hold said stop forming portion against displacement upon said lever.

4. A stop for the presser foot control lever of a sewing' machine, comprising a member having amachine head engaging portion and two oppositely disposed rolled in ends which frictionally engage the sides of said lever.

YRJO A. AHNGER. 

